Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax Day 15 Review

NJPW G1 Climax Day 12 8.11.15 (Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama)

OFFICIAL RESULTS
* Block A: Doc Gallows defeated Tetsuya Naito @ 8:22 via pin [**]
* Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Katsuyori Shibata @ 9:50 via submission [**¾]
* Block A: Toru Yano defeated Kota Ibushi @ 0:50 via pin [NR]
* Block A: AJ Styles defeated Bad Luck Fale @ 9:50 via pin [***]
* Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Togi Makabe @ 15:43 via pin [***½]

* Disclaimer I will be doing what I did with the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, I will just be reviewing the tournament matches from each day. They are what matters, and I don’t worry about burning out.

Doc Gallows defeated Tetsuya Naito: I think a lot of people, myself included, had Naito defeating Gallows going into the tournament. And then, when Naito started heavy into the gimmick change, it seemed like a lock. Well, it wasn’t to be. They worked a short match (no complaints), but still filled with the same Doc Gallows offense; some call it slow and methodical, I call it boring big man offense that 99% of the time serves no real purpose other than to fill time. Naito managed to counter the Gallows poll a few times, but Doc finally nailed it off the ropes to pick up the win and to also put the kibosh on Naito’s G1 finals hopes. This was a big old pile of MEH.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Katsuyori Shibata: Shibata has been doing well in the tournament as far as delivering some memorable matches and performances, but he’d have to work some magic in there with Zombie Tenzan. I won’t lie, I enjoyed this and felt that overall this was a good match. I felt that they worked a good pace, with good back and forth action and they stayed in their lane. Tenzan is a guy that can do certain things well at this stage of the game, and I felt that Shibata stayed where he needed to and overall they had a really good crowd behind them. The closing moments were really excellent, it made it appear to be a big time or important match they got the crowd so hot, and then Tenzan picked up the win with the anaconda vice. Many have speculated that this may be Tenzan’s final G1, and it really should be because asking a 44-year old man who is as banged up as him to work this schedule is insane. I have no issue with him picking up some wins at the end, especially since Shibata was already out of things.

Toru Yano defeated Kota Ibushi: SUPER YANO HEEL DICK MODE ACTIVATE! Yano tried to undo the corner, Ibushi said fuck that and then tried to use it; a shove of the ref, low blow and the rollup scored the win for Yano. I know that Yano gets these kind of wins, and I know Ibushi was out of the running, but I absolutely hated that Ibushi was the one that had to lose this way. He’s had some simply great matches in this tournament, and while I am not exactly outraged as the booking, I find it to be pretty shitty.

AJ Styles defeated Bad Luck Fale: This was a battle of Bullet Club members, and it appeared that Fale would lay down for Styles and that we would move on. But considering the previous match was so short, I knew it was A TRAP. I was right (and I am sure you were as well) when Fale kicked out, and we did have a match. They brawled through the crowd a bit, then Fale took over and controlled for a while. They did a good job of Bullet Club basically trying to help both guys at different times to play into the story. The crowd was into this pretty big, and I thought they did a good job of delivering something different, a very North American match in ways, and I didn’t mind it. They worked hard, they told a story and I felt Styles sold well and worked to Fale’s strengths. This is basically AJ Styles doing everything he does well. In the end, Styles countered the Bad Luck Fall and got the roll up with the feet on the ropes to pull out the win. Post match it was all hugs and kissed for Bullet Club, but if they want it to be, it could be part of a bigger story if they start to break them apart.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Togi Makabe: The crowd was into Makabe early, which was good because it played into Tanahashi playing the subtle heel role. Tanahashi tried to work the leg to maintain control, as Makabe would make his comebacks. I thought that they had the best outing of the night, but it wasn’t great and lacked as a main event. The work was good, and while they worked in some good near falls, I just ever bought into Makabe’s; bottom line I never bought him winning here, and that is what hurt the match for me. The leg work paid off in the long run for Tanahashi, as he took out the knee when Makabe went for the King Kong Knee Drop near the end. Tanahashi hit the high fly flow to Makabe as he tried to get to his feet, and then connected with another and that gave him the victory. The match was good, but under whelmed as a main event.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

BLOCK A
– AJ Styles – 12 POINTS [6 wins, 2 losses]
– Hiroshi Tanahashi – 12 POINTS [6 wins, 2 losses]
– Tetsuya Naito – 10 POINTS [5 wins, 3 losses]
– Bad Luck Fale – 10 POINTS [5 wins, 3 losses]
– Katsuyori Shibata – 8 POINTS [4 wins, 4 losses]
– Togi Makabe – 8 POINTS [4 wins, 4 losses]
– Kota Ibushi – 6 POINTS [3 wins, 5 losses]
– Toru Yano – 6 points [3 win, 5 losses]
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 4 POINTS [2 win, 6 losses]
– Doc Gallows – 4 POINTS [2 win, 6 losses]

“I’m out…”